Lipases are useful, e.g., as detergent enzymes to remove lipid or fatty stains from clothes and other textiles, as additives to dough for bread and other baked products. Thus, a lipase derived from Thermomyces lanuginosus (synonym Humicola latuginosa, EP 258 068 and ER 305 216) is sold for detergent use under the trade name Lipolase® (product of Novo Nordisk A/S), WO 0060063 describes variants of the T. lanuginosus lipase with a particularly good first-wash performance in a detergent solution. WO 9704079, WO 9707202 and WO 0032758 also disclose variants of the T. lanuginosus lipase.
In some applications, it is of interest to minimize the formation of odor-generating short-chain fatty acids. Thus, it is known that laundry detergents with lipases may sometimes leave residual odors attached to cloth soiled with milk (EP 430315). WO 02062973 discloses lipase variants where the odor generation has been reduced by attaching a C-terminal extension.